Humans are innately capable of performing complex movements with their hands via the articulation of their endoskeletal structure. These movements are made possible by ligaments and tendons that are elastically connected to a fairly rigid bone structure.
Strain sensors are devices that can convert force, pressure, tension and weight into a change in electrical resistance (i.e., capacitance), which can then be measured. Over the past few years, these sensors have been used to create a variety of devices that can detect...
In recent years, several research teams worldwide have been trying to develop a new class of devices known as spintronics or spin transport electronics. These devices can encode, store, process and transmit data using the spin of electrons in certain materials.
Solar cells made of semi-transparent photovoltaic (PV) materials typically have a fixed optical transmission, which results in either high transparency or high efficiency, but rarely both. In order to perform optimally when integrated on buildings, however, they...
Frequency multipliers, circuits that can produce signals with multiple frequencies, are essential components for a number of technological tools, particularly wireless communications systems. Most existing multipliers, however, are built using filtering and...
Robots that are made of flexible materials that can be inflated have a number of desirable properties, including their light weight and high levels of compliance (i.e. the ability to undergo elastic deformation). These qualities make them ideal for completing tasks in...
Researchers at Konkuk University in South Korea recently created KUBeetle-S, a flying robot inspired by a species of horned beetle called Allomyrina dichotomy, which is among the largest insects on the planet. Allomyrina dichotomy weighs approximately 5 to 10 g and...
Researchers at Seoul National University have recently developed a compact and lightweight origami structure inspired by ladybird beetles. In a paper published in Science Robotics they show how this structure can be used to build a winged jump-gliding robot....
Researchers at Zhejiang University of Technology, Tianjin University, Nanjing Institute of Technology and Ritsumeikan University have recently created a soft robotic finger that integrates a self-powered curvature sensor using multi-material 3-D printing technology....
Most existing lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) integrate graphite anodes, which have a capacity of approximately 350 milliamp hours (mAh) per gram. The capacity of silicon anodes is almost 10 times higher than that of their graphite counterparts (around 2,800 mAh per...